Kirill Tulupov

Pre 2006: Tulupov’s draft status was adversely affected by spending most of the past two seasons with the Toronto Rattlers, a private club team in the Toronto area that was not heavily scouted. After scoring 16 goals and 28 assists for 44 points with the Rattlers, Tulupov’s play for Team Russia at the 5 Nations Tournament and Under 18 Championships sent his draft stock soaring. That led to the Devils taking him with their first of two picks in the third round of the 2006 draft.

2006-07: Tulupov had a solid debut in the QMJHL for Chicoutimi and seemingly got better and better as the season progressed. He was not able to start the season on time due to visa problems and he was a little sluggish out of the gate offensively, but as he became more comfortable with his surroundings, his numbers started to increase substantially and it could be argued that by season’s end, he was one of the Sagueneens’ top defenseman. In 54 games, he finished with eight goals and 20 assists, 88 PIM’s and a sound -3 rating on a Chicoutimi team that barely squeaked into the postseason. In the Sags short-lived postseason, Tulupov had a goal and an assist in a four-game sweep at the hands of Val d’Or.

Jared Ramsden contributed to this profile